Omnivorousness in marine planktonic copepods

Abstract

Adult females of Centropages furcatus and Temora stylifera had significantly different feeding behaviours. At equal average food concentrations, C. furcatus ingested more nauplii of the calanoid copepod Pseudodiaptomus coronatus and fewer diatoms than T. stylifera. At 20°C and 2.0 μg of nitrogen.1.1.−1 of each food source, C. furcatus ingested 17.2% and 4.4% of its body nitrogen daily as nauplii and diatoms, respectively. Ingestion rates of the same food sources by T. stylifera were 5.1% and 14.5%, respectively. At the environmental concentrations simulated in these experiments, the presence of diatoms did not affect the ingestion of nauplii nor did the presence of nauplii affect diatom ingestion. The behaviour of predator and animal prey largely dictates the types and quantities of prey ingested.